2026-10-19 - Business and Economic Development Committee

00:06All right.

00:07>> Good evening.

00:08>> Good evening, everybody. Welcome to

00:09another regularly scheduled meeting of

00:11the Business and Economic Development

00:12Committee. It is currently 5:07 p.m. I

00:14am your chair, Councillor Leonard. Other

00:17uh committee members are Councillors

00:19Maller, Fish, Balloon,

00:22uh Carson, and we also have around the

00:25table Councillors uh Dean, Walker, uh

00:30Council Chair Hawes,

00:32and uh hey everyone.

00:34Uh and then Director uh Anne Krieg is uh

00:37with us as well.

00:39Um first item on our agenda are the Bah

00:42Humbug banners.

00:45>> [laughter]

00:46>> Uh they can wait we're not we're ready

00:47now.

00:47>> Yeah, I um

00:50I've been working with the uh Downtown

00:52uh Bangor Partnership. Um

00:54Betsy, the director, could not be here

00:56this evening. So, um

00:58but she wanted to just kind of

01:00double-check with you um that we're

01:03adding

01:04um some more

01:06um decorations around the downtown area.

01:09Uh just trying to reach different parts

01:12of the uh the TIF district that uh the

01:15assessment district where, as you know,

01:18people

01:19um that own property in those areas pay

01:21into that.

01:22Um traditionally we've done a lot at the

01:24core, but we're trying to kind of go out

01:27to other parts of the district uh to to

01:30kind of meet uh the needs of those

01:32businesses out there. So, we just wanted

01:35to just kind of go over it with you and

01:37just make sure

01:39um

01:40you if you had any questions or any

01:42thoughts, um

01:44we're here to take them.

01:46Sure. And uh before I go around uh I I

01:49think I neglected to say Councillor

01:50Brack as well at the beginning, so my

01:52apologies.

01:53Uh Councillor Dean, you had a question?

01:55>> not on the committee, but if anyone has

01:56questions for Betsy, I'm here.

01:57>> You're good.

01:58>> I'm just wondering, are these the same

01:59size as the previous banners or are they

02:02bigger banners? No, they're the same

02:04size banners.

02:06The ones that are going on Main Street

02:09though will be a little bit longer just

02:11because those poles are higher.

02:14Um so they're probably like about 3 in

02:17longer than what you normally see in the

02:19downtown.

02:21>> Some of them I think would be fun for

02:22the kids, you know, with the toy store

02:25or candy store. These seem to be a

02:27little more

02:28>> Right.

02:28>> I don't want to say juvenile but

02:31fun.

02:32>> Right.

02:36>> Any other thoughts or comments from the

02:38committee?

02:41Um oh, do you have a question?

02:42>> Well, yeah. I'm just curious.

02:45It says

02:46they're encouraging to host a magic wand

02:48installment. I assume the banner is the

02:50magic wand installment.

02:52>> Correct.

02:53>> Okay.

02:54>> Wait.

02:57>> Oh, Molly here. I'm sorry.

02:59>> Okay.

02:59>> No, you got to come to the table. Sorry.

03:01>> Yeah, you know, I'm just letting you

03:02know that I'm here

03:03>> okay. You want to go?

03:04>> That would be great.

03:09>> All right. Molly Bouchard, Downtown

03:11Bangor Partnership. Um Betsy is not here

03:13but I am here.

03:15It'll be about fourth on the agenda, so

03:17we'll be in. Um I'm happy to answer

03:19that. So, the magic wand installations

03:21are not related specifically to the

03:23banners. That's a project that we're

03:25doing in which uh

03:27retailers

03:29and storefront owners have a transponder

03:32that's triggered by basically a magic

03:35wand, which would be

03:37sort of a fundraiser purchase to support

03:40Downtown Bangor Partnership and these

03:41kind of initiatives. Um when somebody

03:45waves the magic wand, any of the lights

03:47that are plugged into that transponder

03:49turn on. So, our goal is to have

03:52people add something magical to their

03:54own storefronts

03:56so that when people are walking through

03:58um

03:59and the transponders that we are going

04:00to use uh for that project we will have

04:04a number of those wands at the available

04:07for

04:08uh people to take them out of the

04:09library is our plan is to work with a

04:11library, too.

04:12So, that somebody could take out like a

04:14book like from their library of things

04:17uh to to be able to use that so that

04:18there's uh equity in being able to

04:20experience that holiday magic you don't

04:23have to just purchase the wands

04:26if you needed to. So, that's what that's

04:27what those portions are.

04:29Um I'm happy to answer any other

04:31questions about

04:33how we're planning on

04:35uh dealing with banners or anything

04:36else.

04:38>> Any other questions from the uh

04:40committee or any other uh members?

04:43I've got Councilman Jack.

04:44>> Yeah, I would say that's super cool.

04:47Yeah,

04:48really cool.

04:49Uh I'm I'm I'm excited about that for my

04:51kids.

04:52Um the other question I had was not

04:54about the banners it's while you're here

04:56um

04:57the display that went with the tree last

04:59year where people could take selfies

05:00with there is that coming coming back?

05:01>> Yes, so we'll have the

05:04our holiday area so each of these

05:06banners sort of represents

05:08theming that that will go we hope to

05:11have more expanded photo stops. So, last

05:13year we managed to get the banners of

05:15Candy Cane Lane down um

05:19by the ReStore uh in the plaza.

05:22Trying to bring people there was a

05:23little candy cane there were candy cane

05:24trees that that that had candy canes

05:27that children could take and we would

05:29refresh them periodically but there was

05:31a little bench to take pictures by the

05:32candy cane trees.

05:34Um

05:35we've themed each of sort of the larger

05:37areas into kind of more walkable

05:40spots um

05:42and again as Anne mentioned the the

05:44banners on Main Street will be a little

05:45bit longer and that installation um

05:49photo stop. I think that will be near

05:52nearest Paul Bunyan

05:53um but not on Paul Bunyan, of course,

05:56because it's a sacred different

05:57situation.

05:59Um

06:00so we'll have the sort of the heart the

06:03heart of the holidays such that West

06:04Market Square Main Street core from the

06:07top down.

06:08Um we have

06:09uh

06:11installations of

06:14I'm going to think through all We have

06:15We have like several spots uh Tracy

06:18knows we have like six pallets of

06:20decorations uh that we

06:23put up last year and we will we put up

06:25with volunteers. They're just um being

06:27stewarded by Parks and Rec. So, yeah,

06:29the tree there will be other ones as

06:31well. We're hoping that people will want

06:32to kind of collect their holiday

06:34um process. Last year we did have up at

06:37the North Pole

06:38at at the top of Park Street Hill,

06:40there's a sleigh that you can sit in and

06:42have you take pictures in the Santa

06:44sleigh and some reindeer reindeer in

06:46front of it and

06:47um sort of dress it up for the holidays

06:49and

06:50um hope that people will come and do

06:52more more selfies and all of those spots

06:54around town is our long-term goal.

06:58>> For all the all the sake of with that uh

07:00the by the tree on Instagram alone,

07:03there were so many people that tagged

07:05Bangor took their selfies there. I mean,

07:07we really found a winner. You know, it

07:09was just great. So, thank you for

07:11putting that together.

07:12>> Yeah. We're delighted. Thank you.

07:14>> Councilor

07:15>> So, the newly renovated area is also

07:17going to be decorated.

07:18>> The newly renovated

07:20>> the park I think

07:21What do we What do we do?

07:22>> Oh, Pickering.

07:23>> Pickering.

07:23>> Um

07:24>> Will that be decorated? I mean, is there

07:25any connection yet?

07:27With The intent was to bring the

07:28waterfront to the downtown and I'm

07:31wondering if that's

07:31>> So, long-term connection is uh that area

07:34would be in our sort of that

07:36heart of the holidays because it kind of

07:39connects in with what with with West

07:41Market. I also don't know it is

07:43contingent upon whether or not the

07:45electrical um

07:47components are finished in Pickering,

07:50which as of

07:52I think our last

07:54the last I knew they were not completed.

07:56We When we tap into city, there are two

07:59things that are kind of probably helpful

08:00to know. One is that uh

08:03most of the lighting is uh

08:06is triggered by

08:08by sunset. So, during the day

08:12those lighting installations that we put

08:13up and those will not those are not

08:15bright during the day because they only

08:17run when the city lights work. And so,

08:19if there are are issues with the city

08:21electrical on those poles, then that

08:24affects things. I don't think that

08:26Pickering is yet wired.

08:28So, I think probably banners, but um

08:31then maybe some static decorations, but

08:33I

08:35it's not in this like

08:37big concept piece.

08:39The lights on the parking garage will

08:41change will be changed to be the holiday

08:43colors, which we've been doing for a

08:44while. And we

08:46>> Yeah, that's fun.

08:46>> We'll be very excited when there's more

08:48opportunity.

08:50>> I will say that uh did just from last

08:52year's of prior experience when we had a

08:55DJ performing for the New Year's event,

08:58it's very difficult to find some of

09:00those outlets to access. So, um just

09:03maybe some food for thought before uh

09:06um any other type of event goes on down

09:08there. I think that was just some

09:09heckling, but I count that as a

09:10legitimate question.

09:11>> Uh I just wanted to say Pickering

09:13Square, I've been driving through there

09:14and it's just so awesome to finally see

09:17it and the kiosks are up and I know

09:19there's a couple of more on two things

09:21to do, but it looks awesome and I know

09:23we've waited a long time, but I was I

09:25just wanted to mention that. Good job,

09:26looks great, excited about it. Pretty

09:28fancy our next step.

09:32>> Any other thoughts or questions?

09:35Um I did have one question uh which was

09:38uh the the banner designs. Were those

09:41designed by any particular person? I I

09:44just think you just

09:45>> This particular person.

09:47>> [laughter]

09:54>> These are These are sort of the concept

09:56drafts of them, so they won't be I mean,

10:00Candy Cane Lane is is

10:02Those have already been printed. Then

10:04North Pole is probably past concept

10:07draft. Like we haven't printed them yet,

10:08but the other ones are

10:11are mostly conceptual. Gingerbread Lane

10:13is now Gingerbread Way because I don't

10:15want to have two lanes. It's too

10:17confusing to say. Doesn't fit on banners

10:19well. So, they'll be a little different,

10:21but those are those are the themes and

10:23yeah, we design them in-house.

10:25>> I think that's awesome. And

10:27and

10:28one I just wanted to say so thank you

10:30for designing

10:33the other reason I bring is without

10:35getting too into details, I do know that

10:38we did have some issues recently with

10:41some

10:42art being designed by AI for some

10:46city-related

10:48uh business and um

10:51as one of the proponents of AI in

10:55our

10:57government, I do the community,

11:00especially artistic community, has a

11:02very grounded opinion on AI uh being

11:05used in our agenda regardless of what my

11:08opinions are or any of our opinions are.

11:10It's very clear the vast majority of the

11:11art community in the

11:13city is very much against AI being used

11:16in art. So, I just want to make sure

11:17that

11:18we are not going to endorse any AI

11:21effort in any city art believe.

11:23uh

11:25entities or or cultural events.

11:27>> Uh Downtown Bangor has not I I think we

11:30had um

11:32I think

11:33Facebook remixed a reel. I think that's

11:35the only one that we knew of and we

11:37realized that they did it kind of

11:38automatically and then Betsy pulled all

11:40of them as soon as we realized it. I was

11:42like, "What did you do?" But these are

11:43all uh sort of hand hand in Canva, you

11:47know how it goes. Um

11:49so yes, we are we have a pretty strong

11:50commitment to that also because I'm a

11:53graphic artist

11:55and I'm persnickety and I don't like to

11:57see sloppy trash either. So um I and I

12:01want things that look like

12:03not like other people's things. I want

12:05things to look like our things. So um

12:08we're and you know, and Betsy and I have

12:09talked about this too and we both have a

12:11really strong commitment to uh if we're

12:13not keeping the art in-house, then we're

12:15working with designers who we

12:18know are producing

12:20by hand, you know, are making things and

12:22not

12:23throwing them into a generator.

12:25>> Well, I appreciate that sentiment and I

12:27know a lot of people in the community

12:28also appreciate that sentiment. So so

12:30thank you for that. Um

12:32that's all I really had for questions

12:34and comments today. Did anyone else have

12:35anything to add or Ann, did you have

12:36anything you want to add?

12:37>> No.

12:38>> Okay.

12:40Well, oh yes, Council for Lear.

12:41>> I just want to say thank you for all

12:42your work cuz definitely being here

12:44always looks really nice at Christmas

12:46time. So

12:47>> [laughter]

12:48>> Thank you very much. Yes, if anyone

12:50wants to um have families that would

12:52like to come help set up the holidays,

12:54we're always

12:55welcome. We all always welcome

12:57volunteers to come and help us make

12:59things festive.

13:00>> Do we have one more hand out?

13:02>> I'm not for a comment, I just thought

13:04that

13:04I'm looking maybe

13:06for a committee approval.

13:07>> For yeah, committee support of that,

13:09yeah.

13:09>> In that case, I would move that the

13:11committee approve these banners.

13:13>> Do we have a motion?

13:13>> Second.

13:14>> We have a second.

13:16Any uh doubt?

13:18Seeing none, this will have committee

13:20approval.

13:21>> Yay! Thank you.

13:22>> Thank you all. Appreciate all of you and

13:24your

13:25work and

13:26hope to you on gingerbread way.

13:29>> [laughter]

13:29>> Coming soon to

13:30>> No, I'm going to have to keep her to

13:31keep her away, all right?

13:33>> Yeah.

13:34Yeah.

13:35>> Good.

13:36>> Thank you.

13:36>> Thank you.

13:38All right. So, next up we're going to

13:39have a customer facility uh charge

13:41appropriation discussion regarding the

13:43Bangor International Airport. Uh

13:46and are we ready for that?

13:48>> No, he's supposed to be going to come

13:49back on.

13:51Cuz he was on for finance.

13:52>> He was on. He's uh in the process of

13:55traveling, so he might

13:56not have access to

13:57>> Not be able to. Okay. Do you feel

13:59comfortable?

14:00>> Yes.

14:01>> You think so?

14:01>> Okay.

14:07So, you want me to lead off on that one?

14:08>> I was going to say if you want me to

14:10start off or if you're comfortable

14:12starting meeting it off, so.

14:14>> Go ahead and start off. I'll I guess as

14:16I'm coming to the table, uh Francis

14:18Robbins, assistant airport director.

14:20>> Okay. So, um

14:22this is related to the consolidated

14:23rental uh car um

14:26uh packet. I'm just going to let you

14:28take take it away.

14:29>> So, earlier this year the uh the council

14:32approved establishing what's called a

14:35CFC. Cus- customer facility charge for

14:38car rentals. Uh the reason for

14:41establishing this fund is to improve and

14:43expand the facilities that car rental

14:45customers use. Uh as mentioned in the

14:48finance committee meeting, that

14:49passenger facility charge works where

14:52airline passengers are. This one works

14:55where car rental customers are going to

14:57be experiencing. Um we've been

15:00experiencing record levels of growth. Um

15:03that applies to both sides of that coin.

15:06Um and so earlier this year we started

15:08collecting um

15:10this charge. And in the first 4 months

15:13we

15:14passed uh the collection mark of over

15:16$400,000.

15:18So, we're asking for

15:20funds to be appropriated so that we can

15:23start designing a consolidated rental

15:25car facility, the Conrac,

15:28so that we can upgrade and plan a

15:31how to build something that would

15:35meet the current needs, leave some room

15:37for growth, and how to phase it so we

15:39can minimize impact to current

15:41infrastructure.

15:43>> So, before I open up to questions, I I

15:45did want to

15:47it's completely okay if you don't have

15:48the answer to this, I understand you're

15:50filling in for Jose,

15:51but

15:53we've had a lot of conversations

15:55regarding this

15:56transition, this movement into having a

15:58more dedicated

16:01car rental facility, like this is

16:03supporting our our partners there.

16:06How does this really tie in to the rest

16:08of the conversations that we've had in

16:11the past? Is this

16:12to me this seems almost like

16:15uh

16:16um

16:17like like

16:19and please correct me if I'm wrong, but

16:20it seems like it's

16:22covering other areas that we've already

16:24sort of talked about in the past that

16:26were being covered. Maybe I'm incorrect

16:28in in stating that though, but it seems

16:30like this is a little bit um

16:33oh

16:34again, I I I I don't want to bring

16:37you under the

16:38bus here

16:39because I

16:42and I apologize, I'm getting kind of a

16:44bit ahead of myself. I did have a some

16:46questions for Jose, but at the end of

16:48the day I guess my question is how many

16:51of our conversations in the past are

16:53covering multiple different

16:56the same sort of uh

16:57um

16:59what's the word I'm looking for?

17:00uh responsibilities.

17:02>> You got you got a great question there.

17:04The airport is a place where different

17:06levels of responsibility, different

17:08levels of regulation, different funds

17:10can be used here but not there, and it

17:12gets very confusing. That's why I have a

17:13job.

17:15Is because we need to sort through how

17:17to make parking, too. So, uh in the past

17:19Jose has talked about in the master plan

17:21how an area was uh identified as a

17:24possible location for a ConRAC. We've

17:27been doing some of the

17:30looked at different proposals for what

17:32could be done. Uh the car rental

17:34agencies brought their suggestions to us

17:36of what they thought would be helpful.

17:38Uh we need the CFC and this

17:41appropriation is more specifically to

17:43advance it to the next step. So, we've

17:45got concepts. They're essentially napkin

17:48sketches right now. Um so, that would

17:50educate us behind them.

17:52We need to dig a little bit deeper into

17:55uh that process. Mead & Hunt has the

17:57expertise under their uh umbrella as our

18:02selected engineering firm

18:04uh to help advance us and plan and

18:07forecast, you know,

18:09when are we going to have the money to

18:11build something? How big of a something

18:13do we need to build? Um we've

18:15experienced record levels of growth. How

18:18far do we want to project that continues

18:20versus leveling off? We've got a a

18:23forecast projection to help guide that.

18:27Um based off of information we received

18:30uh

18:31recently with numbers this year. So,

18:34is it It is somewhat overlapping

18:37uh with previous conversations, I'm

18:39sure. Um

18:41I can't speak to all of them because

18:42Jose brought up the topic

18:44>> [clears throat]

18:45>> So,

18:47is there something in particular you

18:48have a question on?

18:49>> Particularly, it's it's more so I I feel

18:53like that we're already

18:56we already know what we have to do. We

18:57already know what sites are

19:00are the ones that we're going to have to

19:02work with and

19:04I I'm not trying to be the person that's

19:06that's holding up a city business or or

19:08airport business. I

19:11I I just want to make sure that we're

19:12not giving ourselves extra work that's

19:14putting what we what we know we need to

19:16do in the airport further down the road.

19:18I That's really my only concern at this

19:22point, but

19:23obviously we do need to go forward with

19:28some type of consultant plan put forward

19:31to us and we obviously can't go forward

19:34with um

19:35everything that our partners want to put

19:37forward cuz they're going to be advising

19:39their own process. So obviously I

19:41recognize

19:43that front.

19:45No, I'm going to stop there cuz I know

19:47we have other questions, but I I I do

19:50appreciate your candor and thank you for

19:53your thoughtfulness.

19:54Oh, Counselor Carson had a question.

19:56>> A a comment and I just want to thank you

19:58and Director Sevadra

20:01for bringing this here

20:03this evening. I'm very excited about

20:05seeing this

20:06and and thinking about overlap with

20:08other discussions we've had. I recognize

20:10not only that we have record growth, but

20:12there's airlines exploring the

20:13possibility of international

20:16um

20:17flights and of course having the rental

20:19cars move being able to move the rental

20:20cars out of the airport would provide a

20:22lot of extra space for the existing

20:24airlines

20:25and potentially increase traffic. So

20:28um

20:29I uh

20:31appreciate the speed at which this went

20:34from a a conversation back to

20:37you know, coming back to this committee

20:38for us to be able to

20:40move forward.

20:42>> And if I might add to your

20:44comment

20:45as far as

20:47you if you still have questions, this

20:49item is being recommended to full

20:51council as it's an appropriation and so

20:54Jose will have a chance to answer your

20:56questions if you have

20:58if if you would like to put them in

20:59writing

21:05>> Oh, okay. Lovely. Um, I'll

21:09I'll like how they say ask the manager

21:12directors of Asia wants to hop on board.

21:14That'd be fantastic.

21:16>> Um, I already answered Council members

21:18question about any overlapping, but if I

21:20remember the conversations we've had,

21:24I don't know how long ago, approximately

21:25a year ago, with the idea of kind of

21:28separating

21:30separating it from the airport so the

21:31airport could expand, but also keeping

21:34it close

21:35nearby so that there's still, you know,

21:38a good relationship and still a good

21:40customer service for the customers of

21:42the rental facility. So, from my memory,

21:45this this, you know, this concept has

21:49just sort of gone to the next level.

21:51We've gone from the conversation to now,

21:55um, being ready to,

21:57um, kind of come up with, um,

21:59incorporating,

22:01um, a conceptual, sort of say, to the

22:02next step because we talked about this

22:05consolidated,

22:06uh, rental car facility like a year ago.

22:09So,

22:10I'm I'm all for this, but I have some

22:12questions.

22:17>> Uh, I'm just going to check really quick

22:18if Jose is on. Directors of Asia, are

22:21you,

22:22um, on with us?

22:23>> Yes, can you hear me all right?

22:25>> We can, yes. I'm going to let, uh,

22:27Council Mallard ask a question and then

22:29I'm going to follow up right afterwards,

22:31okay?

22:32>> Well, I'm just concerned about the fact

22:34you we didn't go out for bids on this,

22:36correct? Because they're saying it's

22:38included in the five-year comprehensive

22:41bidding that we did.

22:45>> Uh, Council Mallard, yes, that is

22:47correct. [clears throat]

22:48Uh, when we went when we went out to

22:50bid, the airport solicits solicits

22:52engineering, uh, services uh, for

22:55five-year periods that include all

22:58comprehensive engineering services that

23:01meet the airport's needs. And so, as

23:03part of that award that was made to

23:06uh the consulting firm Mead & Hunt, uh

23:09the contract with them is to

23:12um

23:13perform all engineering services that

23:16are deemed within their scope and that

23:18are

23:19uh also uh

23:21needs of the airport. So, that's how

23:23those services were procured. So,

23:25specifically for this project, no, but

23:27it was procured as part of the

23:30overarching a master engineering

23:32services of the airport.

23:34>> So, is follow-up, is it redundant for us

23:37to approve it again?

23:40>> Councilor uh Mallard, that's a good

23:42question. Uh what you're approving today

23:45is not at the contract with uh

23:48uh Mead & Hunt. What you're approving

23:50today is moving forward the

23:52appropriations

23:53of the CFC funds that have been

23:56collected. So, uh those funds that uh

23:59Francis already described have been

24:01collected over the last uh 6-8 months.

24:05Um and this was done in close

24:06collaboration with uh the car rental

24:09companies. Uh and uh if I'll take it a

24:12step further to uh Councilor Leonard's

24:15point, um what the uh

24:19the This is a project that uh is um

24:22There's many projects happening at the

24:24airport, so it's easy to get some of

24:25them uh confused. Uh when it comes to uh

24:29car rentals and uh addressing the needs

24:31of the car rentals, we have uh

24:34we uh we haven't done much in terms of

24:37addressing that particular need because

24:40we didn't have a funding source to a

24:42mechanism to pay for this infrastructure

24:45development. So, uh you might recall

24:47that back uh earlier this year, the

24:50contracts with the car rentals were

24:51amended to start collecting these funds.

24:54And so, now that we've been collecting

24:56uh enough revenue for the project to be

24:58self-sustaining and pay for itself, then

25:01now we're moving forward with the

25:03planning efforts. And uh to uh further

25:06to counselor uh Leonard's point, uh we

25:09do have a general understanding of what

25:11the uh what we need, but I think that

25:13before we start building and uh

25:16it into a project that is likely to go

25:18into the tens of uh millions of dollars,

25:21we do need to uh find uh get deeper into

25:24the planning process to identify exactly

25:27what we build, how do we build it, and

25:29where does it go?

25:31>> TSA number

25:33through through the entire journey. And

25:36I asked them, "Is it just for this

25:37flight?"

25:38>> Happy to answer any other questions.

25:40>> Uh okay, I didn't know if anyone else

25:42was uh talking on with you, uh

25:44um Jose. Um

25:46so I did that thank you for your uh

25:48question and the follow-ups to uh mine.

25:50I I guess I I I'm going to put this as

25:52like uh simply as possible, uh

25:55more so for myself, less so for the

25:57people at home. Uh

25:58is uh

26:00this project, how much are we pushing

26:02this to

26:05Okay, let let let me actually

26:06boil it down even simpler. Um

26:09how necessary is it to

26:12uh go forward with um this appropriation

26:17right here right now in order to

26:19uh continue with the facilitation of uh

26:22the

26:23uh airport's uh

26:25uh plan regarding the consolidated

26:26rental car facility. Uh

26:29I and I know that seems like a really

26:31simple and pretty obvious uh

26:33question, probably has a very obvious

26:35answer from you. Um but

26:37I for for me, it this always seemed like

26:40a very

26:41uh

26:43matter-of-factly

26:45uh

26:46we're we're getting to the point in the

26:47road where we have to

26:50move forward and invest into this

26:53uh uh the

26:54I'm already kind of answering my own

26:55question, but do do do do you see where

26:57where I I I'm uh getting this uh point

27:00from? I I just it it sounds like we're

27:03regurgitating a lot of what we've

27:05already talked about um before and I

27:09know you're probably going to

27:11come out and say that we just have to do

27:13this portion just cuz it's the next

27:15phase of the project, which I I do

27:17understand that question. I'm just

27:19trying to get a better understanding of

27:21the grander scope of what's happening

27:22and what we are going to get for um our

27:26investment into this uh facility cuz at

27:28the end of the day, I want to make sure

27:30that we're doing this at the uh service

27:33of taxpayers, not so much at the service

27:36of

27:37um our um

27:39partners in the in the Bangor

27:40International Airport. As important as

27:42they are, I just want to make sure that

27:45our our priorities are actually where

27:47they're at.

27:50>> So, uh Counselor Leonard, quite a few

27:53things to unpack there. Uh first off,

27:56the funding source of the CFC.

28:00Um a uh

28:02the CFC is paid by those

28:05uh uh users of the airport that are

28:08renting a vehicle at the airport. So,

28:11it's not coming from taxpayer dollars,

28:14but rather from airport users. Um

28:17secondly, yes, it a lot of the

28:20assumptions that we do have on the level

28:22of need of the airport are already

28:26obviously in place. Uh and to give you a

28:28little bit of context, uh

28:30the need to upgrade the facilities for

28:33car rental uh companies has been uh

28:36voiced directly to the council since

28:38prior to my uh tenure as airport

28:40director. So, we are sort of behind uh

28:43here on addressing that dire need. The

28:46current facilities that we have in place

28:48are uh over they've they're past the end

28:52of their useful life.

28:54Parking rental vehicles are being parked

28:56in unpaid lots in the side of the road

28:58that are also creating safety risks. So,

29:01I would say that well, it does seem like

29:04a

29:05a bit of going through some of the

29:07motions. We do need to take these

29:10planning steps to be able to address a

29:12larger need.

29:16>> You actually bring up a really good

29:17point regarding the

29:19fees that we could collect that we're

29:21not necessarily collecting from parked

29:24vehicles. So, um

29:28If I am more questions, I'm going to

29:30email you. I'm satisfied as of right

29:33now. I'm just more so, I guess,

29:36confused over the summation of

29:38everything. But,

29:40obviously, this is a project that we

29:42need to go forward with and I'm happy to

29:45continue to support our staff. I just

29:46want to make sure that

29:49I was able to make sense of it. Um

29:52Those are all the questions that I have.

29:53Does anyone else have any questions on

29:56the committee?

29:59I'm not seeing any.

30:01Uh Director Sabedra, do you have

30:03anything that you would like to add or

30:05Director Green or

30:07or

30:08>> Nothing further from me.

30:11>> [clears throat]

30:14>> The biggest thing that I wanted to add

30:15is because this is a appropriation,

30:18by appropriating it now, we get 9 months

30:20of planning into this. If we wait to do

30:22this appropriation till the regular

30:24budget season

30:25of next year, we'll be 9 more months

30:28behind on figuring out the plan of where

30:31we're going and what we can build.

30:33By doing it now, we may have a plan

30:36ready as soon as next year that we could

30:37put into practice of this is where we're

30:40designing what we're designing, what we

30:41can put to bid.

30:44>> That's a really good point. Thank you.

30:46>> I have another question.

30:47>> Please, yes.

30:48>> What's the contract for What is it? Mead

30:51& Hunt? When did it start? When does it

30:53end?

30:53It's a 5-year contract.

30:55>> It's a great question. Mead & Hunt was

30:57selected in

31:003 years ago. It was selected in 2025.

31:03Um

31:05to be the engineer of record. And so,

31:08they have

31:10>> What would that be now?

31:11>> 5 years. Yeah.

31:12>> 4 years left on

31:14And 3 and 1/2 years left on that.

31:16>> [clears throat]

31:16>> Okay. And the contract is open-ended as

31:19far as dollar value is concerned.

31:21>> Correct. Now, what that's balanced with

31:23on the FAA side, and what we use on all

31:25of our projects, is what's called an

31:27independent fee estimate. So, another

31:28engineer looks at it and says, "Are they

31:31charging you for things that they

31:32shouldn't? Are they charging you too

31:33much?" So, we get another

31:36engineering planning service

31:39depending on what they're working on to

31:41say, "Okay, is this a reasonable rate

31:42that they're charging? Are they charging

31:44a reasonable number of hours?"

31:46>> Do we have their opinion on this one?

31:48>> We don't have a proposal from Mead &

31:51Hunt yet. We have

31:54Actually, if we've got a specific dollar

31:56amount, we must have one so I can find

31:58out if that

32:00>> I think we need to know that.

32:03>> Again, that's not going to affect the

32:04appropriation, but before we

32:06>> I understand that, but we don't want to

32:08We don't want them coming back and

32:09saying this should cost you 100,000,

32:11we'd give them 120.

32:12>> Right.

32:14>> Thank [clears throat] you.

32:16Any more questions?

32:16>> Okay. Uh Council Fish.

32:18>> What we need tonight is for us to just

32:21approve

32:23the $222,000.

32:25>> A recommendation to make for that

32:27appropriation for Council.

32:30>> I make a motion that

32:32we

32:32send this to Council for to recommend

32:35uh,

32:35appropriation of $223,000.

32:39>> Second. You have a motion, you have a

32:41second, and I think we do have another

32:43uh, hand up I saw over there.

32:46No?

32:48No?

32:49Okay.

32:51Well, we have a motion, we have a

32:53second. Um, is there any doubt or any

32:56further discussion we would like to

32:58have?

33:01If not, uh, this will have universal

33:04passage uh, and we'll move on to full

33:06council.

33:08Um, anything else to add? Uh,

33:11>> I think so.

33:12Okay, thank you.

33:13>> Thank you.

33:14All right.

33:15It is currently

33:18uh,

33:196:30. Oh my god, right on the dot. Uh,

33:21this will uh, be the end of the

33:23Technology Development Committee, but

33:25stay tuned. We do have uh, Government

33:28Operations next. Have a

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